Fish for School

July 20, 2020 | A school of fish for school. Some Friends got together and caught 100 fish for first graders and over twice as many for kindergarteners. Next, little magnetic fishing poles.

Site Selection

July 9, 2020 | The site of the Outdoor Classroom has been selected! As soon as the permit for the concrete slab has been issued by the school district, the furniture will be ordered! Thanks CSX for the School Beautification Grant!

Face Masks for You

July 1, 2020 | Thanks to the United Way of Northeast Florida and the Duval County Health Department, we have 4,000 Hanes manufactured face masks for distribution to the Dinsmore Community.  If you need a face mask to help prevent the spread of COVD-19, please stop by and pick one up out of the Little Free Library. Please keep safe!

School Beautification

June 26, 2020 | School Beautification is still happening!

Today a stump grinder prepared the small area in the front of the school (near the library) for cultivation. It took a huge machine to dig though the web of small roots, compacted mulch, and who knows what else. Now we can let it settle and see how much soil needs to be removed prior to planting.

Smile!

June 19, 2020 | Thanks to those who started their Amazon shopping on the Smile page! This was our first AmazonSmile deposit.

Mystery Science Continues!

June 1, 2020 | Friends is pleased to announce that we have purchased the Mystery Science subscription for the 2020-2021 school year!

The 2019-2020 school year was the first year that Friends provided Dinsmore Elementary with a subscription to Mystery Science and the supplies for this hands-on learning.  We want to give a shout-out to Ms. Labe for rapidly adopting this new learning tool.

We hear the kids absolutely love Mystery Science and we at Friends love bringing it to them!

United Way – Be a Fan!

April 13, 2020 | You can now be a United Way fan of Friends of Dinsmore Elementary!

Simply go to our United Way agency page and click “Become a Fan” in the top right hand corner. You’ll then be notified of Friends volunteer opportunities posted on the United Way of Northeast Florida website.

Beautification Work Days

March 12, 2020 | Two school beautification work days were held this week. In the Interim between the work days, the hedges were severely trimmed by the school grounds crew. Just had to say, Friends did NOT trim the hedges. Here is what was accomplished:

  • Day 1: The dead tree next to the principal parking space was cut down and removed.
  • Day 1: The hedges to the right of the flag pole were cleaned free of vines and debris.
  • Day 1: All the leaves in front of the school were bagged and trashed.
  • Day 2: The 8 poles in the hedges were expertly removed by volunteer, Roger Mann.
  • Day 2: While there with his small tractor, Roger also removed an invasive plant in the hedges to the left of the flagpole. Friends will plant two new plants in the gap.
  • Day 2: We again cleaned out debris under the hedges to the right of the flagpole. It was easier this time as was only freshly fallen trimmings.
  • Day 2: The Little Free Library was moved to a safer location. When the traffic fatality on Old Kings Road came close to the Little Free Library, the principal said she’d like it moved away from the higher-speed traffic. Now the Little Free Library is near the walk-up dismissal area.

We hope to spread mulch on our next school beautification work day! To be notified of the date, sign up for email alerts.

4-H Embryology

March 5, 2020 | The chicks are hatching! Minutes before the school’s SAC meeting, another chick hatched!

Ms. Labe’s science classroom is a 4-H Embryology classroom. The students have been candling the incubated eggs to study the growth and development of the chicks. Ms. Labe reports the students got very excited to witness an embryo moving!

Thanks to the University of Florida IFAS Extension for including Dinsmore Elementary in this free school program. Friends is pleased to have coordinated this program partnership.